The former Oasis frontman is set to launch his solo career this year, and his close friend and fellow rocker has let slip that they will be performing live together at some point in 2017.

Asked whose offer he would accept if both Liam and his brother Noel Gallagher - his former bandmate who he has barely spoken to since Oasis ended in 2009 - Richard said: "I would have to politely tell them both that I had something else on and stay at home.

"I played a show with Noel a few months ago and I'm playing with Liam later in the year."

Richard - who became pals with Liam when he was fronting fellow British band The Verve, with the two acts regularly touring together in the 90s - won't be giving Liam any advice on going it alone, but thinks his return to music will be welcomed as there are few people as outspoken as the 'Songbird' singer.

The 'Lucky Man' singer told Q magazine: "I wouldn't be daft enough to give Liam any advice on going solo. He can just be himself and do what he loves and people will connect to it. We miss those characters, these people with an opinion. Most people just don't [give an opinion] unless they believe they're getting some sort of PC credit. Then they're out there, appeal after appeal, holding babies and making everyone feel really guilty and miserable around Christmas."

To date, 44-year-old Liam's only announced solo show is at Bergenfest in Norway in June, but Richard, 45, is not one of the artists currently named on the bill.

Richard inspired Oasis' track 'Cast No Shadow' from their seminal 1995 album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' but he admits he has no idea what Noel, 49, meant by the lyrics.

He said: "I think it's one of the best tunes Noel's ever written as well.

"It's a great honor to be a part of that and then when the album exploded like that it was just great. I was buzzing. I think it was almost an afterthought [for Noel] but there were so many gags at the time because I was so thin, 'Is it because he's so thin that he casts no shadow, is that what it's about?'

"I did say to him, 'Am I a vampire? What are you trying to say, man?'"

15 January 2017

It's been twenty years since Ewan McGregor ruined bathrooms for you forever, and the star of the upcoming Trainspotting sequel was a bit hesitant to revisit the familiar territory of the '90s cult classic. (Not literally, though. We don't know a ton about the movie just yet, but it's hard to believe that Renton would ever, ever, ever ever ever make a point to go back to that filthy WC after two decades. Shudder.)

In a candid interview with the Guardian, McGregor talks about his reunion with Trainspotting director Danny Boyle, how the sequel has the hard-partying blokes of the first flick patching up old friendships, and how, exactly, Oasis factors into the Trainspotting equation.

Apparently, McGregor read Porno — Irving Welsh's follow-up to Trainspotting, and the inspiration for T2 — and he didn't love it as much as he loved the first novel. That's where the Gallagher brothers and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? get involved, in McGregor's mind, anyway.

“I wasn’t touched by it in the same way, and I didn’t want anything to tarnish the film," he told the Guardian. "No one wants to make a shite sequel. Trainspotting was the Oasis of the film world, something quite amazing.”

The Oasis connection doesn't stop there: McGregor was a huge fan of Supersonic, the documentary about the Manchester rock act, which he watched shortly following the conclusion of T2's production. It conjured up a ton of '90s nostalgia for him, which was fitting, given the iconic status both Trainspotting and Oasis share thanks to that particular era.

"It really slayed me," he gushed, revealing his cards his "schoolboy fanaticism" for Oasis. "Watching that film, I really wanted to go back. Just being out there and having a great time, and being a part of what the '90s has become in my mind. I remember seeing Radiohead in Cork in a field, just after Trainspotting had come out, and feeling like part of it all… Anyway, I loved that documentary. I mean, I loved it and I hated it. Because it made me so sad and it made me so happy.”

12 January 2017

"All Around The World" is a song by British rock band Oasis. Released on the 12th of January 1998, the track peaked at Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart; it is the longest single ever to do so. It went Silver in the UK.

"All Around the World", nearly ten minutes long, is embellished with string and horn pieces, and is followed by a two-minute-long instrumental, "All Around the World (Reprise)". Upon its release the reviews were generally positive. It is in keeping with many Oasis songs, such as "Whatever", "Acquiesce", "Live Forever" in that it preaches the belief that "it's gonna be okay". It also features a backing vocal in the coda remarkably similar to the corresponding section in The Beatles' song "Hey Jude".

History

The song was one of the first to be written by Noel, and there are recorded sessions of the band rehearsing it at the Boardwalk club as early as 1992. However, despite Noel's fondness for the song, it did not appear on their first two albums, Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, as he wanted to wait until the band could afford to produce the song in the extravagant manner in which it was to eventually appear. From time to time, Gallagher has claimed that this is one of the best songs he has ever written.

As early as Spring 1994, the final production sound for this song was envisaged. On the interview Wibbling Rivalry, Noel Gallagher said of the song, "With Supersonic, I worried I was never going to write another song after that 'cos I thought, 'It sounds that good'... Two days later I superseded it by about 50 fuckin' times. The reason we haven't recorded that song is because there isn't enough money in Creation Records' bank balance to pay for the production of that record. When we do that record..." Noel also added when asked if there would be an orchestra on it, "Orchestras, man? It's not got to be one, it's got to be two".

Video

Keeping with the feel of the song, the video was also a lavish affair. Featuring the band in a yellow spaceship, the animated piece saw them travel through a world akin to The Beatles' Yellow Submarine film. The video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and apparently took 24 computer animators 6 months to make. The video itself is not as long as the song, lasting just over seven minutes. The part of the song that was cut out is mostly towards the end.

Description

Noel described the song shortly before the release of the album- "I wrote this one ages ago, before Whatever. It was twelve minutes long then. It was a matter of being able to afford to record it. But now we can get away with the 36-piece orchestra. And the longer the better as far as I'm concerned. If it's good. I can see what people are going to say, but fuck 'em, basically."

"The lyrics are teeny-poppy. But there are three key changes towards the end. Imagine how much better Hey Jude would have been with three key changes towards the end. I like the ambition of it, all that time ago. What was all that about when we didn't even have our first single out? Gin and tonics, eh?"

B-Sides

The B-Sides of "All Around the World" were two Noel sung songs, The Fame and Flashbax. Oasis also recorded a cover version of a Rolling Stones song, "Street Fighting Man".

Trivia

When it was suggested that Oasis take legal action against pop band Hear'Say for their first single's ("Pure and Simple") uncanny similarity to "All Around the World", Noel simply laughed at the hypocrisy of such an act from a man who was famous for "borrowing" from other artists.

The harmonica pieces on the track were performed by Mark Feltham. Noel and Liam's then wives, Meg Mathews and Patsy Kensit and The Verve's front man Richard Ashcroft sang backing vocals.

Portions of the song's chorus were used as background music for AT&T's advertising campaign for "The New" AT&T.

The photograph on the front of the single was taken on Bournemouth beach in Dorset, England.